


The Party Starts at Midnight

by presidenthomewrecker



Category: Dangan Ronpa - All Media Types, Super Dangan Ronpa 2
Genre: Birthday Party, Fluff, Gen, Hinata Hajime-centric
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-14
Updated: 2021-02-14
Packaged: 2021-03-15 15:27:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,449
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29438244
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/presidenthomewrecker/pseuds/presidenthomewrecker
Summary: Class 77 is having a New Year's party, but what Hajime doesn't know is that they have a surprise planned for him.
Relationships: Class 77 & Hinata Hajime
Comments: 2
Kudos: 35





	The Party Starts at Midnight

**Author's Note:**

> My Valentine's exchange gift for n3tn0b0dy on tumblr! I didn't mean for birthdays to be a theme for my exchange gifts but that's what happened so whoops ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯

Hajime has never been a fan of birthdays.

It’s not that he dislikes them, or that he tries to avoid them, it’s just that they’ve never been a big deal. It doesn’t help that his birthday falls on the first of January, meaning that any well wishes usually get swept up in the excitement of the new year.

But it’s not like he minds. He’ll celebrate when the birthday is important to the person having it, but with his birthday especially, it’s just another day on the calendar.

He’s aware that his birthday is coming up. Even if it’s not a big deal, it’s still a thought that lingers in the back of his mind. He doesn’t have any plans—aside from maybe eating a little too much at the New Year’s party. And to be fair, it’s hard not to overindulge when Teruteru is the one cooking, but he’s still going to pretend like it’s a special occasion.

The party is being held in the lower deck of the ship, in what was probably a dining hall. They mainly just use it for parties now. After all, it’s hard to keep positive when everyone on the planet blames you specifically for the apocalypse. Frequent parties keep everyone’s spirits up.

Hajime can hear the faint buzz of conversation from the hallway. Underneath that is a steady, upbeat undercurrent of music, meaning that Ibuki is either doing requests or isn’t playing.

The second he pushes the door open, all eyes are on him. Hajime’s earlier confidence falters. Why is everyone here already, and why are they all staring at him? It’s a New Year’s party, right? Doesn’t that mean it starts a little closer to midnight?

“About time!” Mahiru calls. She’s helping Gundham hang a banner that reads “Happy New Years!” from the ceiling, and aside from a few silver stars, that’s all the decoration there is. “I thought we were gonna have to get Nekomaru to drag you down here.”

“We saved you a couple plates, though!” Akane says through a mouthful of chicken. She pushes a plate into his hands before he has time to react, so it’s a good thing he’s hungry.

“Oh, thanks. I’m guessing the party started a little earlier then.”

“Not too long. It was mostly prep work,” Mahiru answers. She peers at him from behind her camera lens, focusing the shot. “Smile!”

Hajime offers a brief half-smile, wishing he’d had more time to prepare. He should’ve known Mahiru would be in full shutterbug mode, but somehow having a camera shoved in his face still manages to blindside him.

Aside from the banner and stars, there’s a reasonable spread, but Hajime’s attention is immediately drawn to the table in the middle, where something about as tall as he is lies hidden beneath a sheet. Ibuki is seated beside it, confirming Hajime’s earlier suspicions that she wasn’t allowed to provide the music, but it’s almost as if she’s guarding the table, weirdly enough.

Fuyuhiko notices him staring. “Not until midnight, ya bastard.” But he says it with a half-smirk, like it’s a private joke between them.

Hajime offers a half-hearted chuckle. “Right.”

After a moment, everyone returns to their previous conversations. Sonia is in the middle of teaching Mikan and Nagito a Novoselic party game that looks suspiciously like beer pong. While Mikan misses about every shot she makes, Nagito manages to land one after another. Hajime makes a note to stay clear; he definitely doesn’t want to see what Nagito is like drunk.

Hajime makes his way through the room, making sure to talk to everyone at least a little before moving on to the next person. Maybe he doesn’t have to, but he still likes to check up on everyone in little ways. Admittedly, he talks to Akane, Peko, and the Ultimate Imposter, but only because he spies some leftover mashed potatoes that definitely weren’t put on his plate.

As he makes his way around, he can’t help but notice that Mahiru is always a step or two behind him, taking pictures where she can. There are many parts of him—the Ultimate Detective and the reserve course student that survived a killing game, mostly—that can’t help but worry that she’s planning something, but those are parts of himself he tries to push aside.

That level of paranoia isn’t useful anywhere outside of a killing game, and the very things that kept him alive will be the things that tear his friendships apart if he lets them. Besides, what reason would Mahiru have to be scheming?

He gets his answer as the clock ticks down to midnight when Hiyoko and Sonia both take him by the arms and lead him to the center of the room, right in front of the covered table.

The “Happy New Year!” banner falls, revealing one that reads “Happy Birthday, Hajime!” underneath.

“Surprise!” Mahiru says, snapping another picture. “We found out when your birthday is!”

Mikan leans forward, trying to get a read on his face. She looks almost worried as she gauges his reaction. “W-well? Do you like it?”

He smiles sheepishly. It feels weird to have all eyes on him when it isn’t a life-or-death situation, when his friends aren’t looking to him for the answers, but instead to see him _smile_. “You guys didn’t have to do this.”

“Are you kidding?” Kazuichi hooks an arm around his neck and beams. Hiyoko gives an indignant shriek at being pushed out of the way, but she must not think it’s worth it to start a fight on Hajime’s birthday. “’Course we did!”

“Indeed,” Gundham says. “If the Dark Queen and I had not performed the proper scrying ritual, we would have never known when you had been thrust into this mortal coil!”

Mahiru rolls her eyes. “They went through the records in storage until they found it.”

Of course they did. Hajime thinks he should be more annoyed with that than he actually is, but considering the circumstances, he can’t be too upset with them. Still, that doesn’t mean he won’t point out the obvious. “You could’ve just asked.”

“And would you have told us?” the Ultimate Imposter asks.

They’ve got him there. Even if it did come up in conversation, there’s no guarantee he would’ve mentioned his own birthday. Not to be mysterious or anything, just because he hardly thinks it matters.

“Besides, you haven’t even seen the cake yet!” Nekomaru says. From the way he and Akane are nearly bouncing in place, it’s clear to see that this is the part they’ve been waiting for.

“Took me all day to get this cake togeher, baby!” Teruteru says proudly.

Hajime’s eyes flit back to the covered table. Whatever’s underneath is at least as tall as he is. Is that thing really a cake?

Akane and Nekomaru carefully lift the sheet, revealing a four-layer birthday cake, complete with multiple rows of unlit candles and his name written in icing on the side.

Hajime has to take a moment to get his bearings, just to marvel at the cake. He wants to say it’s beautiful, because it is, but his gaze is immediately drawn to the fist-sized chunk torn out of the bottom layer—by hand, too. “Someone already had a piece?”

“Man, that’s weird!” Ibuki thumbs at the sides of her mouth in a futile attempt to get rid of the crumbs on her lips. “I didn’t see anyone when I was guarding it!”

Fuyuhiko groans. “Seriously?”

“Not to mention how unsanitary that is,” Mikan whimpers, but her voice is drowned out by Fuyuhiko’s scolding.

“Hey, at least there are three other layers,” Hajime says in an attempt to keep the peace. The bottom layer looks like it’s chocolate anyway, so he would’ve been avoiding it even if Ibuki hadn’t grabbed a piece with her bare hands.

“It won’t show up in the picture anyway,” Mahiru says dismissively. Hajime smirks, thinking she’s either not a fan of chocolate or saw Ibuki grabbing a piece and has had time to cope. “Everyone gather ’round so we can get a photo before we cut the cake! Hajime front and center!”

Everyone shuffles into their appropriate places, with Nekomaru, Gundham, Akane, and the Ultimate Imposter in the back and Fuyuhiko and Hiyoko in the front. Mahiru fusses with the angle, trying to get both the group and the banner in the same frame. In the end, they have to readjust it—with Akane on Nekomaru’s shoulders and Sonia on Gundham’s—so it hangs low enough to fit well into frame.

This time when the camera flashes, his smile is everything Mahiru wants it to be—big, bright, and genuine.

**Author's Note:**

> heyo so i've got a [tumblr](http://president-homewrecker.tumblr.com) you can drop by


End file.
